Ezekiel 23:18-21
“I turned my back on her just as I had on her sister. But that didn’t slow her down. She went at her whoring harder than ever. She remembered when she was young, just starting out as a whore in Egypt. That whetted her appetite for more virile, vulgar, and violent lovers—stallions obsessive in their lust. She longed for the sexual prowess of her youth back in Egypt, where her firm young breasts were caressed and fondled.”
“In the same way, I became disgusted with Oholibah and rejected her, just as I had rejected her sister, because she flaunted herself before them and gave herself to satisfy their lusts. Yet she turned to even greater prostitution, remembering her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt. She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like those of a horse. And so, Oholibah, you relived your former days as a young girl in Egypt, when you first allowed your breasts to be fondled.”
Chapter 23 tells the story of two sisters, one representing the northern kingdom of Israel, the other Judah in the south. Illicit sex and its consequences are the theme. They illustrate both the violation of God’s relationship with his people and the damaging societal impact of free sex. Worship, like sex, looses its vibrancy when sought for entertainment. It leads us down rabbit holes where the world gets stranger and stranger. I think it best to apply Occam’s Razor. Creatively simple is best. It seems an oxymoron, but God specializes in those.
Lord, give me grace to seek the simple, be creative with my embellishments, and the wisdom to choose your best in all things.